Minami’s room was on the fourth floor. It wasn’t impossible for Tatsuya to jump down with physical strength alone, but he didn’t want to leave himself vulnerable after he landed. Minoru had long been an exceptional magician, even before he transformed into a parasite. Tatsuya summoned the inertia control program from his memory storage’s magic program library.
Once both boys were in the courtyard, Minoru cast a Spark spell, but Tatsuya was quicker. His simultaneous activation of an inertia control magic through Flash Cast nullified and effectively countered Minoru’s attack. Tatsuya also cast Program Dispersion within his artificial magic-calculation region to help counteract Minoru’s spell.
“I knew you were using Program Dispersion,” Minoru said calmly, his anger having clearly subsided. “I had my doubts back in the hospital room, but here we are. Only a Yotsuba could cast a spell in battle when it’s barely succeeded in the labs.”
“Your attacks reek of parasites,” Tatsuya said. “They never hesitate to resort to unilateral displays of power for the sake of their fixations.”
This unexpected reproach took Minoru off guard. His measured gaze flickered with agitation.
“You were never this self-conceited when you were a human,” Tatsuya told him.
“I’m not self-conceited! And I did nothing wrong!”
He unleashed the Human Combustion spell, which forcibly extracted electrons from molecules responsible for cell regeneration and released them outside the body. Its name came from the emission it left on the skin, resembling spontaneous human combustion. However, it didn’t actually cause people to explode. It simply destroyed the target’s cells at the molecular level by depriving them of electrons required for intermolecular bonding.
Tatsuya neutralized the Human Combustion magic program just before it could activate. Even for him, this was a close call. The speed at which Minoru was casting spells was astonishing. He had always been quick at spell casting, but fusing with a parasite further enhanced his activation speed.
Unfortunately, Tatsuya’s comment meant to unsettle Minoru had the opposite effect. Minoru’s accuracy wasn’t compromised at all. In fact, he seemed more stimulated—almost excited—since the activity of his magic-calculation region was heightened.
At this point, holding back was no longer an option. Tatsuya found himself reluctantly taking the confrontation seriously. When Minoru first appeared in Minami’s hospital room, Tatsuya had felt no hostility. If only he had been better at communicating.
But there was no time for regrets. Tatsuya unleashed another Dismantle spell without his CAD. Using CAD would have been moot against Minoru’s speed. Had he not been released from Oath’s seal, Tatsuya probably wouldn’t have stood a chance.
The information body Dismantle spell hit Minoru, and he disappeared without a trace. A few seconds later, Minoru’s true form reappeared unharmed to the right. The target Tatsuya had hit was an illusion created by the camouflage spell Parade. In other words, Tatsuya had only disintegrated a phantom.
He cast another spell, causing his perception of Minoru’s location to shift from the right to the left, where his real body actually stood. Minoru had cast another spell called Qimen Dunjia, which deceived the opponent’s perception of the caster’s direction. Tatsuya quickly used Dismantle on this magic, too.
It looks like parasites aren’t the only thing Minoru absorbed, he thought.
Former Lab Nine focused on integrating ancient magic techniques into modern magic. While it wasn’t impossible that Qimen Dunjia was one of the old spells they researched, it couldn’t have been the exact same program that Xiangshan Chen had used.
Each spell had its individuality. Even when two magicians used the same spell to achieve the same effect, subtle differences would arise in the casting process, especially if a magician made a mistake. The higher the perfection of the spell, the less noticeable these differences became.
Of course, this also depended on the power relationship between the caster and his opponent. Tatsuya’s Third Eye could sense the individuality of Minoru’s Qimen Dunjia. It was exactly in Gongjin Zhou’s style.
When did he absorb Gongjin’s spirit?
While Tatsuya pondered over this, magic sparks appeared in the sky. Minoru had cast the emission-type spell Cloudless Thunder. It ionized the air, creating a shower of extracted electrons. The negatively charged target would then be exposed to a surge of positive ions in a powerful two-stage attack.
Minoru unleashed this spell just as Tatsuya was in the process of using Dismantle on Parade and Qimen Dunjia. This time, Cloudless Thunder was faster than Tatsuya’s magic program.
Tatsuya selected the program for Conduction Membrane from his library. This emission-type spell effectively reduced the electric resistance of the surface of clothing and shoes to zero, preparing them to defensively channel the electric current of lightning strikes into the ground.
Summoning the magic program into his artificial magic-calculation region, Tatsuya attempted to activate Conductive Membrane with Flash Cast. But before he could do that, a magic program causing an increase in electrical resistance was cast upon him. While this spell wasn’t particularly powerful, it clashed with Conductive Membrane, causing both spells to fail.
Failing to activate a defensive spell in time led Tatsuya to be engulfed by Cloudless Thunder’s electron shower. Suppressing a groan, he rolled himself across the hospital’s natural grass lawn. Beneath the grass was a layer of earthy soil that absorbed the excess charge on Tatsuya’s body along with any positive ions.
As Tatsuya rose to one knee Minoru stood frozen, his face betraying surprise. Even if Tatsuya could endure the pain, his muscles, bombarded by the electron shower, shouldn’t be able to move freely.
This wasn’t the result of Minoru’s carelessness. He had simply been misled by what he considered reasonable. Blood spurted from the bottom of his right foot while his left suddenly lost feeling, causing him to fall backward and land flat on his back.
Tatsuya aimed to completely immobilize Minoru by targeting his shoulders and left leg. However, he soon realized that all he had on the ground was an empty shadow.
Just then, magic sparks appeared behind him, a sign that Cloudless Thunder was about to begin. Without turning around, he swiftly diffused the spell with Program Dispersion. But his “eyes” weren’t solely focused on the Cloudless Thunder. He searched for Minoru’s presence in every direction.
Thanks to this hyperawareness, Tatsuya managed to destroy the Heat Blade—a spell that thinly compressed air to create a type of air projectile—that flew toward him from the right. Released by Tatsuya’s Dismantle, the projectile rapidly expanded, triggering a huge gust of wind.
Since the ground was covered with grass, the strong wind didn’t kick up dust to impair visibility, but it still made Tatsuya squint. With half-closed eyes, he struck the left side of the ground. Suddenly, he felt a faint sense of urgency in front of him. Minoru had unwittingly given himself away.
Tatsuya swiftly dispelled the lightning magic rising from the ground just before it took shape. He then dismantled the deceleration cage that would have restrained his movements immediately after the spell’s activation. By neutralizing the compression of the air, he dispersed all the airborne projectiles as well. At this point, it was clear that each of Minoru’s successive magic attacks was potentially lethal.
After neutralizing all the attacks, Tatsuya had Minoru within striking distance. He thrust out his right index finger in a technique known as Ipponken. His finger pierced Minoru’s clothing and skin, boring a deep hole into the base of Minoru’s left arm.
This attack wasn’t the result of his training in karate or kenjutsu. Tatsuya had merely cast Mist Dispersion from his fingertip. If he had aimed at Minoru with his naked eye or magic vision, the attack would have been blocked by the Kudou family’s secret technique, Parade. So he closed in until he was at point-blank range and unleashed zero-range Dismantle. This ensured that, even if all his senses were deceived, Tatsuya’s attack would inflict damage if it hit his opponent’s body.
Minoru screamed. He attempted to use his parasite’s life force absorption ability, but Tatsuya withdrew his finger just in time.